Found my dads original 1971 duster!

Thanks so much for all of the help! Noel came by today and helped me get the dash out (amazing of him!). Here are some updates with pics:

Took dash out- no visible burnt wires or connections- took a pic of amp wires as builder installed them. The fuel gauge cluster smells badly of burnt electronic smell

Joined the wire back together than my friend cut

Joined the 2 amp wires (black and red) together with a bolt and electrical tape….hooked battery up and it started instantly!! Runs like a champ!

The wire that my friend cut wasn’t contacting anything while it was cut

So I guess the question is why have I never been able to get power for any lights, gauges etc. Maybe bad amp module?

At this point I’m thinking of taking my gauge cluster in to have everything checked

Also, the ground from the steering column was just hanging there. Not hooked to anything

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If this were mine and I was bypassing the ammeter, I would not simply attach the 2 wires together and have them "hanging in space." Instead, I would bolt both wires to 1 terminal of the ammeter posts and call it good. This way, you know the wires are firmly anchored together in a fixed position and will not someday have the insulating tape fall off and accidentally touch something since that would be a dead short. Perhaps Mr @Mattax may have an opinion on that as well.

Well done so far with all of your testing and debugging and buffing, etc, etc. You have a great looking car to be proud of!